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132-554: The Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí are UNESCO World Heritage Sites . In the North-East of the area there is the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park , which attracts an important number of visitors. The local Ribagorçan dialect is a variant of Catalan , which has some transitional traits to Aragonese . Location: Highest point: Comaloformo (3030 m) in

264-594: A pejorative description. Giorgio Vasari used the term "barbarous German style" in his 1550 Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style. In the introduction to the Lives he attributed various architectural features to the Goths whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome , and erecting new ones in this style. In

396-422: A Gothic choir, and six-part rib vaults over the nave and collateral aisles, alternating pillars and doubled columns to support the vaults, and buttresses to offset the outward thrust from the vaults. One of the builders who is believed to have worked on Sens Cathedral, William of Sens , later travelled to England and became the architect who, between 1175 and 1180, reconstructed the choir of Canterbury Cathedral in

528-455: A carved central jamb. Narrow doors and small windows might be surmounted by a solid stone lintel. Larger openings are nearly always arched. A characteristic feature of Romanesque architecture, both ecclesiastic and domestic, is the pairing of two arched windows or arcade openings, separated by a pillar or colonette and often set within a larger arch. Ocular windows are common in Italy, particularly in

660-573: A common rule, living in a mutually dependent community, rather than as a group of hermits living in proximity but essentially separate, was established by the monk Benedict in the 6th century. The Benedictine monasteries spread from Italy throughout Europe, being always by far the most numerous in England. They were followed by the Cluniac order, the Cistercians , Carthusians and Augustinian Canons . During

792-571: A great number of antique Roman columns were salvaged and reused in the interiors and on the porticos of churches. The most durable of these columns are of marble and have the stone horizontally bedded. The majority are vertically bedded and are sometimes of a variety of colours. They may have retained their original Roman capitals, generally of the Corinthian or Roman Composite style. Some buildings, like Santa Maria in Cosmedin (illustrated above) and

924-509: A half-column supporting the arch. There are many variations on this theme, most notably at Durham Cathedral where the mouldings and shafts of the piers are of exceptional richness and the huge masonry columns are deeply incised with geometric patterns. Often the arrangement was made more complex by the complexity of the piers themselves, so that it was not piers and columns that alternated, but rather, piers of entirely different form from each other, such as those of Sant' Ambrogio, Milan , where

1056-413: A horizontal moulding representing a capital at the springing of the arch. Sometimes piers have vertical shafts attached to them, and may also have horizontal mouldings at the level of the base. Although basically rectangular, piers can often be of highly complex form, with half-segments of large hollow-core columns on the inner surface supporting the arch, or a clustered group of smaller shafts leading into

1188-602: A lack of living space within the walls, and resulted in a style of town house that was tall and narrow, often surrounding communal courtyards, as at San Gimignano in Tuscany and Bologna and Pavia in Lombardy . In Germany, the Holy Roman Emperors built a number of residences, fortified, but essentially palaces rather than castles, at strategic points and on trade routes. The Imperial Palace of Goslar (heavily restored in

1320-504: A lantern tower, deeply moulded decoration, and high pointed arcades. Coutances Cathedral was remade into Gothic beginning about 1220. Its most distinctive feature is the octagonal lantern on the crossing of the transept, decorated with ornamental ribs, and surrounded by sixteen bays and sixteen lancet windows. Saint-Denis was the work of the Abbot Suger , a close adviser of Kings Louis VI and Louis VII . Suger reconstructed portions of

1452-630: A large number remain either substantially intact or sympathetically restored, demonstrating the form, character and decoration of Romanesque church architecture. Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe since the Roman Empire . With the decline of Rome, Roman building methods survived to an extent in Western Europe, where successive Merovingian , Carolingian and Ottonian architects continued to build large stone buildings such as monastery churches and palaces. In

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1584-418: A monastic complex, with all its various monastic buildings and their functions labelled. The largest building is the church, the plan of which is distinctly Germanic, having an apse at both ends, an arrangement not generally seen elsewhere. Another feature of the church is its regular proportion, the square plan of the crossing tower providing a module for the rest of the plan. These features can both be seen at

1716-491: A new period of Gothic Revival . Gothic architecture survived the early modern period and flourished again in a revival from the late 18th century and throughout the 19th. Perpendicular was the first Gothic style revived in the 18th century. In England, partly in response to a philosophy propounded by the Oxford Movement and others associated with the emerging revival of 'high church' or Anglo-Catholic ideas during

1848-449: A series of tracery patterns for windows – from the basic geometrical to the reticulated and the curvilinear – which had superseded the lancet window. Bar-tracery of the curvilinear, flowing , and reticulated types distinguish Second Pointed style. Decorated Gothic similarly sought to emphasize the windows, but excelled in the ornamentation of their tracery. Churches with features of this style include Westminster Abbey (1245–),

1980-511: A single piece of stone were frequently used in Italy, as they had been in Roman and Early Christian architecture. They were also used, particularly in Germany, when they alternated between more massive piers. Arcades of columns cut from single pieces are also common in structures that do not bear massive weights of masonry, such as cloisters, where they are sometimes paired. In Italy, during this period,

2112-499: A third stage of window openings known as the clerestory rising above them. Arcading on a large scale generally fulfils a structural purpose, but it is also used, generally on a smaller scale, as a decorative feature, both internally and externally where it is frequently " blind arcading " with only a wall or a narrow passage behind it. In Romanesque architecture, piers were often employed to support arches. They were built of masonry and square or rectangular in section, generally having

2244-456: A triforium, Early English churches usually retained a gallery. High Gothic ( c.  1194 –1250) was a brief but very productive period, which produced some of the great landmarks of Gothic art. The first building in the High Gothic (French: Classique ) was Chartres Cathedral , an important pilgrimage church south of Paris. The Romanesque cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1194, but

2376-478: A violent and bothersome mistake, as suggested by Vasari. Rather, he saw that the Gothic style had developed over time along the lines of a changing society, and that it was thus a legitimate architectural style of its own. It was no secret that Wren strongly disliked the building practices of the Gothic style. When he was appointed Surveyor of the Fabric at Westminster Abbey in the year 1698, he expressed his distaste for

2508-417: Is a direct imitation of Islamic architecture . At other late Romanesque churches such as Durham Cathedral , and Cefalù Cathedral , the pointed arch was introduced as a structural device in ribbed vaulting. Its increasing application was fundamental to the development of Gothic architecture . An arcade is a row of arches, supported on piers or columns. They occur in the interior of large churches, separating

2640-563: Is known in Britain as High Victorian Gothic . The Palace of Westminster in London by Sir Charles Barry with interiors by a major exponent of the early Gothic Revival, Augustus Welby Pugin , is an example of the Gothic revival style from its earlier period in the second quarter of the 19th century. Examples from the High Victorian Gothic period include George Gilbert Scott 's design for

2772-674: Is often divided into two periods known as the " First Romanesque " style and the "Romanesque" style. The difference is chiefly a matter of the expertise with which the buildings were constructed. The First Romanesque employed rubble walls, smaller windows and unvaulted roofs. A greater refinement marks the Second Romanesque, along with increased use of the vault and dressed stone. The walls of Romanesque buildings are often of massive thickness with few and comparatively small openings. They are often double shells, filled with rubble. The building material differs greatly across Europe, depending upon

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2904-508: Is one of simplicity when compared with the Gothic buildings that were to follow. The style can be identified right across Europe, despite regional characteristics and different materials. Many castles were built during this period, but they are greatly outnumbered by churches. The most significant are the great abbey churches, many of which are still standing, more or less complete and frequently in use. The enormous quantity of churches built in

3036-593: Is one of the reasons why Wren's theory is rejected by many. The earliest examples of the pointed arch in Europe date from before the Holy War in the year 1095; this is widely regarded as proof that the Gothic style could not have possibly been derived from Saracen architecture. Several authors have taken a stance against this allegation, claiming that the Gothic style had most likely filtered into Europe in other ways, for example through Spain or Sicily. The Spanish architecture from

3168-540: Is typical of the churches that were founded on the pilgrim route. The general impression given by Romanesque architecture, in both ecclesiastical and secular buildings, is one of massive solidity and strength. In contrast with both the preceding Roman and later Gothic architecture , in which the load-bearing structural members are, or appear to be, columns, pilasters and arches, Romanesque architecture, in common with Byzantine architecture , relies upon its walls, or sections of walls called piers. Romanesque architecture

3300-509: Is why he constantly praised the classic architecture of 'the Ancients' in his writings. Even though he openly expressed his distaste for the Gothic style, Wren did not blame the Saracens for the apparent lack of ingenuity. Quite the opposite: he praised the Saracens for their 'superior' vaulting techniques and their widespread use of the pointed arch. Wren claimed the inventors of the Gothic had seen

3432-482: The Albert Memorial in London, and William Butterfield 's chapel at Keble College, Oxford . From the second half of the 19th century onwards, it became more common in Britain for neo-Gothic to be used in the design of non-ecclesiastical and non-governmental buildings types. Gothic details even began to appear in working-class housing schemes subsidised by philanthropy, though given the expense, less frequently than in

3564-501: The Bessiberri Range. 42°27′48″N 0°49′47″E  /  42.46333°N 0.82972°E  / 42.46333; 0.82972 This Province of Lleida location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into

3696-640: The Byzantine , of course belong more to the Gothic period than the light and elegant structures of the pointed order which succeeded them. The Gothic style of architecture was strongly influenced by the Romanesque architecture which preceded it; by the growing population and wealth of European cities, and by the desire to express local grandeur. It was influenced by theological doctrines which called for more light and by technical improvements in vaults and buttresses that allowed much greater height and larger windows. It

3828-577: The Chateau of Gaillon near Rouen (1502–1510) with the assistance of Italian craftsmen. The Château de Blois (1515–1524) introduced the Renaissance loggia and open stairway. King Francois I installed Leonardo da Vinci at his Chateau of Chambord in 1516, and introduced a Renaissance long gallery at the Palace of Fontainebleau in 1528–1540. In 1546 Francois I began building the first example of French classicism,

3960-683: The Crusades , the military orders of the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar were founded. The monasteries, which sometimes also functioned as cathedrals, and the cathedrals that had bodies of secular clergy often living in community, were a major source of power in Europe. Bishops and the abbots of important monasteries lived and functioned like princes. The monasteries were the major seats of learning of all sorts. Benedict had ordered that all

4092-502: The Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Romanesque is characterized by semicircular arches , while the Gothic is marked by the pointed arches . The Romanesque emerged nearly simultaneously in multiple countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain); its examples can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman architecture . Similarly to Gothic,

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4224-690: The Kingdom of Germany giving rise to the Holy Roman Empire . The invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy , in 1066, saw the building of both castles and churches that reinforced the Norman presence. Several significant churches that were built at this time were founded by rulers as seats of temporal and religious power, or places of coronation and burial. These include the Abbaye-Saint-Denis , Speyer Cathedral and Westminster Abbey (where little of

4356-513: The Pantheon, Rome , was one of the first Renaissance landmarks, but it also employed Gothic technology; the outer skin of the dome was supported by a framework of twenty-four ribs. In the 16th century, as Renaissance architecture from Italy began to appear in France and other countries in Europe. The Gothic style began to be described as outdated, ugly and even barbaric. The term "Gothic" was first used as

4488-500: The Pyrenees and converged into a single stream to traverse north-western Spain. Along the route they were urged on by those pilgrims returning from the journey. On each of the routes abbeys such as those at Moissac , Toulouse , Roncesvalles , Conques , Limoges and Burgos catered for the flow of people and grew wealthy from the passing trade. Saint-Benoît-du-Sault , in the Berry province,

4620-658: The Twelve Apostles . Santiago de Compostela , located in the Kingdom of Galicia (present day Galicia , Spain) became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Europe. Most of the pilgrims travelled the Way of St. James on foot, many of them barefooted as a sign of penance. They moved along one of the four main routes that passed through France, congregating for the journey at Jumièges , Paris, Vézelay , Cluny , Arles and St. Gall in Switzerland. They crossed two passes in

4752-511: The Vitruvian architectural vocabulary of classical orders revived in the Renaissance and seen as evidence of a new Golden Age of learning and refinement. Thus the Gothic style, being in opposition to classical architecture, from that point of view was associated with the destruction of advancement and sophistication. The assumption that classical architecture was better than Gothic architecture

4884-619: The rib vault , had appeared in England, Sicily and Normandy in the 11th century. Rib-vaults were employed in some parts of the cathedral at Durham (1093–) and in Lessay Abbey in Normandy (1098). However, the first buildings to be considered fully Gothic are the royal funerary abbey of the French kings, the Abbey of Saint-Denis (1135–1144), and the archiepiscopal cathedral at Sens (1135–1164). They were

5016-410: The Île-de-France and Picardy regions of northern France . The style at the time was sometimes known as opus Francigenum ( lit.   ' French work ' ); the term Gothic was first applied contemptuously during the later Renaissance , by those ambitious to revive the architecture of classical antiquity . The defining design element of Gothic architecture is the pointed arch . The use of

5148-409: The "Cluny II" rebuilding of 963 onwards has completely vanished, but we have a good idea of the design of "Cluny III" from 1088 to 1130, which until the Renaissance remained the largest building in Europe. However, the church of St. Sernin at Toulouse , 1080–1120, has remained intact and demonstrates the regularity of Romanesque design with its modular form, its massive appearance and the repetition of

5280-424: The 1250s, Louis IX commissioned the rebuilt transepts and enormous rose windows of Notre-Dame de Paris (1250s for the north transept, 1258 for the beginning of south transept). This first 'international style' was also used in the clerestory of Metz Cathedral ( c . 1245–), then in the choir of Cologne 's cathedral ( c . 1250–), and again in the nave of the cathedral at Strasbourg ( c . 1250–). Masons elaborated

5412-532: The 13th century; by 1300, a first "international style" of Gothic had developed, with common design features and formal language. A second "international style" emerged by 1400, alongside innovations in England and central Europe that produced both the perpendicular and flamboyant varieties. Typically, these typologies are identified as: Norman architecture on either side of the English Channel developed in parallel towards Early Gothic . Gothic features, such as

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5544-475: The 17th and 18th centuries, especially in provincial and ecclesiastical contexts, notably at Oxford . Beginning in the mid-15th century, the Gothic style gradually lost its dominance in Europe. It had never been popular in Italy, and in the mid-15th century the Italians, drawing upon ancient Roman ruins, returned to classical models. The dome of Florence Cathedral (1420–1436) by Filippo Brunelleschi , inspired by

5676-502: The 17th and 18th century several important Gothic buildings were constructed at Oxford University and Cambridge University , including Tom Tower (1681–82) at Christ Church, Oxford , by Christopher Wren . It also appeared, in a whimsical fashion, in Horace Walpole 's Twickenham villa , Strawberry Hill (1749–1776). The two western towers of Westminster Abbey were constructed between 1722 and 1745 by Nicholas Hawksmoor , opening

5808-431: The 17th century, Molière also mocked the Gothic style in the 1669 poem La Gloire : "...the insipid taste of Gothic ornamentation, these odious monstrosities of an ignorant age, produced by the torrents of barbarism..." The dominant styles in Europe became in turn Italian Renaissance architecture , Baroque architecture , and the grand classicism of the style Louis XIV . The Kings of France had first-hand knowledge of

5940-505: The 19th century) was built in the early 11th century by Otto III and Henry III, while the ruined Palace at Gelnhausen was received by Frederick Barbarossa prior to 1170. The movement of people and armies also brought about the building of bridges, some of which have survived, including the 12th-century bridge at Besalú , Catalonia , the 11th-century Puente de la Reina, Navarre and the Pont-Saint-Bénézet, Avignon . Across Europe,

6072-420: The 20th century. Medieval contemporaries described the style as Latin : opus Francigenum , lit.   'French work' or ' Frankish work', as opus modernum , 'modern work', novum opus , 'new work', or as Italian : maniera tedesca , lit.   'German style'. The term "Gothic architecture" originated as a pejorative description. Giorgio Vasari used

6204-685: The 6th-century octagonal Byzantine Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna being the inspiration for the greatest building of the Early Middle Ages in Europe, the Emperor Charlemagne 's Palatine Chapel, Aachen , Germany, built around the year AD 800. Dating shortly after the Palatine Chapel is a remarkable 9th-century Swiss manuscript known as the Plan of Saint Gall and showing a very detailed plan of

6336-560: The 8th and the 10th centuries in the Iberian Peninsula while " First Romanesque " is applied to buildings in north of Italy and Spain and parts of France that have Romanesque features but pre-date the influence of the Abbey of Cluny . The Romanesque style in England and Sicily is still referred to as Norman architecture . A "dazzling" style developed in Pisa in the mid-11th century is called " Pisan Romanesque ". Eric Fernie writes that by

6468-625: The Air and Weather; the Coping, which cannot defend them, first failing, and if they give Way, the Vault must spread. Pinnacles are no Use, and as little Ornament. The chaos of the Gothic left much to be desired in Wren's eyes. His aversion of the style was so strong that he refused to put a Gothic roof on the new St. Paul's, despite being pressured to do so. Wren much preferred symmetry and straight lines in architecture, which

6600-547: The Alps, a very important group of large city churches survived largely intact. As monasticism spread across Europe, Romanesque churches sprang up in Scotland, Scandinavia, Poland, Hungary, Sicily, Serbia and Tunisia. Several important Romanesque churches were built in the Crusader kingdoms . The system of monasticism in which the religious become members of an order, with common ties and

6732-500: The Classical than those in England. Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages , surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture . It originated in

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6864-474: The Crusades could be suitably commemorated by their family in a work of stone and mortar. The Crusades resulted in the transfer of, among other things, a great number of Holy Relics of saints and apostles . Many churches, like Saint-Front, Périgueux , had their own home grown saint while others, most notably Santiago de Compostela , claimed the remains and the patronage of a powerful saint, in this case one of

6996-626: The Gothic style in a letter to the bishop of Rochester: Nothing was thought magnificent that was not high beyond Measure, with the Flutter of Arch-buttresses, so we call the sloping Arches that poise the higher Vaultings of the Nave. The Romans always concealed their Butments, whereas the Normans thought them ornamental. These I have observed are the first Things that occasion the Ruin of Cathedrals, being so much exposed to

7128-629: The Greeks. Wren was the first to popularize the belief that it was not the Europeans, but the Saracens that had created the Gothic style. The term 'Saracen' was still in use in the 18th century and it typically referred to all Muslims, including the Arabs and Berbers. Wren mentions Europe's architectural debt to the Saracens no fewer than twelve times in his writings. He also decidedly broke with tradition in his assumption that Gothic architecture did not merely represent

7260-488: The Moors could have favoured the emergence of the Gothic style long before the Crusades took place. This could have happened gradually through merchants, travelers and pilgrims. According to a 19th-century correspondent in the London journal Notes and Queries , Gothic was a derisive misnomer; the pointed arcs and architecture of the later Middle Ages was quite different from the rounded arches prevalent in late antiquity and

7392-515: The Pre-Conquest church now remains). At a time when the remaining architectural structures of the Roman Empire were falling into decay and much of its learning and technology lost, the building of masonry domes and the carving of decorative architectural details continued unabated, though greatly evolved in style since the fall of Rome, in the enduring Byzantine Empire . The domed churches of Constantinople and Eastern Europe were to greatly affect

7524-531: The Proto-Romanesque St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim , 1001–1030. Architecture of a Romanesque style also developed simultaneously in the north of Italy, parts of France and in the Iberian Peninsula in the 10th century and prior to the later influence of the Abbey of Cluny . The style, sometimes called First Romanesque or Lombard Romanesque , is characterised by thick walls, lack of sculpture and

7656-433: The Romanesque period was succeeded by the still busier period of Gothic architecture, which partly or entirely rebuilt most Romanesque churches in prosperous areas like England and Portugal. The largest groups of Romanesque survivors are in areas that were less prosperous in subsequent periods, including parts of southern France , rural Spain and rural Italy. Survivals of unfortified Romanesque secular houses and palaces, and

7788-744: The Saracen architecture during the Crusades , also called the Religious war or Holy War, organised by the Kingdom of France in the year 1095: The Holy War gave the Christians, who had been there, an Idea of the Saracen Works, which were afterwards by them imitated in the West; and they refined upon it every day, as they proceeded in building Churches. There are several chronological issues that arise with this statement, which

7920-399: The aisles helped to buttress the nave, if it was vaulted. In the cases where half-barrel vaults were used, they effectively became like flying buttresses . Often aisles extended through two storeys, rather than the one usual in Gothic architecture, so as to better support the weight of a vaulted nave. In the case of Durham Cathedral, flying buttresses have been employed, but are hidden inside

8052-450: The ambulatory and side-chapels around the choir at Saint-Denis, and by the paired towers and triple doors on the western façade. Sens was quickly followed by Senlis Cathedral (begun 1160), and Notre-Dame de Paris (begun 1160). Their builders abandoned the traditional plans and introduced the new Gothic elements from Saint-Denis. The builders of Notre-Dame went further by introducing the flying buttress, heavy columns of support outside

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8184-451: The arcades that separate large interior spaces of castles, is the alternation of piers and columns. The most simple form that this takes is to have a column between each adjoining pier. Sometimes the columns are in multiples of two or three. At St. Michael's, Hildesheim , an A B B A alternation occurs in the nave while an A B A alternation can be seen in the transepts. At Jumièges there are tall drum columns between piers each of which has

8316-400: The architectural style which flourished across Europe from the 11th to the 13th century, and is distinguished from the Gothic style that followed by semi-circular arches and more massive forms. The development of vaults from barrel and groin vaults to ribbed vaults was the main structural innovation of this period. The distinction between the style of architecture now known as Romanesque, and

8448-421: The architecture of certain towns, particularly through trade and through the Crusades . The most notable single building that demonstrates this is St Mark's Basilica , Venice , but there are many lesser-known examples, particularly in France, such as the church of Saint-Front , Périgueux and Angoulême Cathedral . Much of Europe was affected by feudalism in which peasants held tenure from local rulers over

8580-422: The arts were to be taught and practiced in the monasteries. Within the monasteries books were transcribed by hand, and few people outside the monasteries could read or write. In France, Burgundy was the centre of monasticism. The enormous and powerful monastery at Cluny was to have lasting effect on the layout of other monasteries and the design of their churches. Very little of the abbey church at Cluny remains;

8712-551: The atrium at San Clemente in Rome, may have an odd assortment of columns in which large capitals are placed on short columns and small capitals are placed on taller columns to even the height. Architectural compromises of this type are seen where materials have been salvaged from a number of buildings. Salvaged columns were also used to a lesser extent in France. In most parts of Europe, Romanesque columns were massive, as they supported thick upper walls with small windows, and sometimes heavy vaults. The most common method of construction

8844-407: The beginning of the 21st century there is "something like agreement" on the characteristics of the Romanesque style. Some researchers argue that due to an "astonishing diversity" of the Romanesque buildings, a unanimous definition is impossible: "[n]o single model, no single rule, ever seems adequate to prevail", and the Romanesque should be treated as a "collection of trends". Despite disagreement,

8976-523: The brothers William and Robert Vertue 's Henry VII Chapel ( c.  1503 –1512) at Westminster Abbey . Perpendicular is sometimes called Third Pointed and was employed over three centuries; the fan-vaulted staircase at Christ Church, Oxford built around 1640. Lacey patterns of tracery continued to characterize continental Gothic building, with very elaborate and articulated vaulting, as at Saint Barbara's, Kutná Hora (1512). In certain areas, Gothic architecture continued to be employed until

9108-459: The building of castles at strategic points, many of them being constructed as strongholds of the Normans, descendants of the Vikings who invaded northern France under Rollo in 911. Political struggles also resulted in the fortification of many towns, or the rebuilding and strengthening of walls that remained from the Roman period. One of the most notable surviving fortifications is that of the city of Carcassonne . The enclosure of towns brought about

9240-511: The capital of the medieval kingdom of Armenia concluded to have discovered the oldest Gothic arch. According to these historians, the architecture of the Saint Hripsime Church near the Armenian religious seat Etchmiadzin was built in the fourth century A.D. and was repaired in 618. The cathedral of Ani was built in 980–1012 A.D. However many of the elements of Islamic and Armenian architecture that have been cited as influences on Gothic architecture also appeared in Late Roman and Byzantine architecture,

9372-428: The cathedral at Metz ( c .1235–). In High Gothic, the whole surface of the clerestory was given over to windows. At Chartres Cathedral, plate tracery was used for the rose window, but at Reims the bar-tracery was free-standing. Lancet windows were supplanted by multiple lights separated by geometrical bar-tracery. Tracery of this kind distinguishes Middle Pointed style from the simpler First Pointed . Inside,

9504-507: The cathedrals at Lichfield (after 1257–) and Exeter (1275–), Bath Abbey (1298–), and the retro choir at Wells Cathedral ( c .1320–). The Rayonnant developed its second 'international style' with increasingly autonomous and sharp-edged tracery mouldings apparent in the cathedral at Clermont-Ferrand (1248–), the papal collegiate church at Troyes , Saint-Urbain (1262–), and the west façade of Strasbourg Cathedral (1276–1439)). By 1300, there were examples influenced by Strasbourg in

9636-511: The cathedrals of Limoges (1273–), Regensburg ( c . 1275–), and in the cathedral nave at York (1292–). Central Europe began to lead the emergence of a new, international flamboyant style with the construction of a new cathedral at Prague (1344–) under the direction of Peter Parler . This model of rich and variegated tracery and intricate reticulated rib-vaulting was definitive in the Late Gothic of continental Europe, emulated not only by

9768-542: The classical columns he had seen in Rome. In addition, he installed a circular rose window over the portal on the façade. These also became a common feature of Gothic cathedrals. Some elements of Gothic style appeared very early in England. Durham Cathedral was the first cathedral to employ a rib vault, built between 1093 and 1104. The first cathedral built entirely in the new style was Sens Cathedral , begun between 1135 and 1140 and consecrated in 1160. Sens Cathedral features

9900-552: The cloisters and chapter-house ( c.  1332 ) of Old St Paul's Cathedral in London by William de Ramsey . The chancel of Gloucester Cathedral ( c.  1337 –1357) and its latter 14th century cloisters are early examples. Four-centred arches were often used, and lierne vaults seen in early buildings were developed into fan vaults, first at the latter 14th century chapter-house of Hereford Cathedral (demolished 1769) and cloisters at Gloucester, and then at Reginald Ely 's King's College Chapel, Cambridge (1446–1461) and

10032-614: The collegiate churches and cathedrals, but by urban parish churches which rivalled them in size and magnificence. The minster at Ulm and other parish churches like the Heilig-Kreuz-Münster at Schwäbisch Gmünd ( c .1320–), St Barbara's Church at Kutná Hora (1389–), and the Heilig-Geist-Kirche (1407–) and St Martin's Church ( c .1385–) in Landshut are typical. Use of ogees was especially common. The flamboyant style

10164-713: The competition. Work began that same year, but in 1178 William was badly injured by falling from the scaffolding, and returned to France, where he died. His work was continued by William the Englishman who replaced his French namesake in 1178. The resulting structure of the choir of Canterbury Cathedral is considered the first work of Early English Gothic . The cathedral churches of Worcester (1175–), Wells ( c .1180–), Lincoln (1192–), and Salisbury (1220–) are all, with Canterbury, major examples. Tiercerons – decorative vaulting ribs – seem first to have been used in vaulting at Lincoln Cathedral, installed c .1200. Instead of

10296-580: The coverage of stained glass windows such that the walls are effectively entirely glazed; examples are the nave of Saint-Denis (1231–) and the royal chapel of Louis IX of France on the Île de la Cité in the Seine – the Sainte-Chapelle ( c .1241–1248). The high and thin walls of French Rayonnant Gothic allowed by the flying buttresses enabled increasingly ambitious expanses of glass and decorated tracery, reinforced with ironwork. Shortly after Saint-Denis, in

10428-414: The development of Renaissance architecture in Italy during the mid-15th century, the Gothic style was supplanted by the new style, but in some regions, notably England and Belgium, Gothic continued to flourish and develop into the 16th century. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th century England , spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for churches and university buildings, into

10560-419: The development of the modern English meaning of the word involved primarily two steps: The French term " romane " was first used in the architectural sense by archaeologist Charles de Gerville in a letter of 18 December 1818 to Auguste Le Prévost to describe what Gerville sees as a debased Roman architecture . In an 1823 public lecture (published in 1824) Gerville's friend Arcisse de Caumont adopted

10692-529: The domestic quarters of monasteries are far rarer, but these used and adapted the features found in church buildings, on a domestic scale. The French term " romane " or the English Romanesque , meaning "in the manner of Romans", has been used to describe the architectural style of the Mediaeval era, preceding the more easily recognizable Gothic architecture, since early in the 19th century. It describes

10824-483: The east end of the church, which typically had a half-dome. The lantern tower was another common feature in Norman Gothic. One example of early Norman Gothic is Bayeux Cathedral (1060–1070) where the Romanesque cathedral nave and choir were rebuilt into the Gothic style. Lisieux Cathedral was begun in 1170. Rouen Cathedral (begun 1185) was rebuilt from Romanesque to Gothic with distinct Norman features, including

10956-552: The effect created by the transmission of light through stained glass windows. Common examples are found in Christian ecclesiastical architecture , and Gothic cathedrals and churches , as well as abbeys , and parish churches . It is also the architecture of many castles , palaces , town halls , guildhalls , universities and, less prominently today, private dwellings. Many of the finest examples of medieval Gothic architecture are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites . With

11088-420: The famous abbeys of Aux Dames and Les Hommes at Caen and Mont Saint-Michel date from this period, as well as the abbeys of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela . Many cathedrals owe their foundation to this date, with others beginning as abbey churches, and later becoming cathedrals. In England, of the cathedrals of ancient foundation, all were begun in this period with the exception of Salisbury, where

11220-454: The façade gable and are also seen in Germany. Later Romanesque churches may have wheel windows or rose windows with plate tracery . There are a very small number of buildings in the Romanesque style, such as Autun Cathedral in France and Monreale Cathedral in Sicily in which pointed arches have been used extensively, apparently for stylistic reasons. It is believed that in these cases there

11352-478: The façades of Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes (1370s) and choir Mont-Saint-Michel 's abbey church (1448). In England, ornamental rib-vaulting and tracery of Decorated Gothic co-existed with, and then gave way to, the perpendicular style from the 1320s, with straightened, orthogonal tracery topped with fan-vaulting . Perpendicular Gothic was unknown in continental Europe and unlike earlier styles had no equivalent in Scotland or Ireland. It first appeared in

11484-466: The first buildings to systematically combine rib vaulting, buttresses, and pointed arches. Most of the characteristics of later Early English were already present in the lower chevet of Saint-Denis. The Duchy of Normandy , part of the Angevin Empire until the 13th century, developed its own version of Gothic. One of these was the Norman chevet , a small apse or chapel attached to the choir at

11616-503: The front and back side of the façade. The new High Gothic churches competed to be the tallest, with increasingly ambitious structures lifting the vault yet higher. Chartres Cathedral's height of 38 m (125 ft) was exceeded by Beauvais Cathedral's 48 m (157 ft), but on account of the latter's collapse in 1248, no further attempt was made to build higher. Attention turned from achieving greater height to creating more awe-inspiring decoration. Rayonnant Gothic maximized

11748-448: The label " roman " to describe the "degraded" European architecture from the 5th to the 13th centuries, in his Essai sur l'architecture religieuse du moyen-âge, particulièrement en Normandie , at a time when the actual dates of many of the buildings so described had not been ascertained: "The name Roman (esque) we give to this architecture, which should be universal as it is the same everywhere with slight local differences, also has

11880-432: The land that they farmed in exchange for military service . The result of this was that they could be called upon, not only for local and regional spats, but to follow their lord to travel across Europe to the Crusades, if they were required to do so. The Crusades , 1095–1270, brought about a very large movement of people and, with them, ideas and trade skills, particularly those involved in the building of fortifications and

12012-556: The late 11th and 12th centuries saw an unprecedented growth in the number of churches. A great number of these buildings, both large and small, remain, some almost intact and in others altered almost beyond recognition in later centuries. They include many very well known churches such as Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome, the Baptistery in Florence and San Zeno Maggiore in Verona. In France,

12144-458: The local stone and building traditions. In Italy, Poland, much of Germany and parts of the Netherlands, brick is generally used. Other areas saw extensive use of limestone, granite and flint. The building stone was often used in comparatively small and irregular pieces, bedded in thick mortar. Smooth ashlar masonry was not a distinguishing feature of the style (especially not in the earlier part of

12276-463: The merit of indicating its origin and is not new since it is used already to describe the language of the same period. Romance language is degenerated Latin language. Romanesque architecture is debased Roman architecture." The term " Pre-romanesque " is sometimes applied to architecture in Germany of the Carolingian and Ottonian periods and Visigothic , Mozarab and Asturian constructions between

12408-485: The metal working needed for the provision of arms, which was also applied to the fitting and decoration of buildings. The continual movement of people, rulers, nobles, bishops, abbots, craftsmen and peasants, was an important factor in creating a homogeneity in building methods and a recognizable Romanesque style , despite regional differences. Life became generally less secure after the Carolingian period. This resulted in

12540-451: The monks relocated from the Norman church at Old Sarum , and several, such as Canterbury , which were rebuilt on the site of Saxon churches. In Spain, the most famous church of the period is Santiago de Compostela . In Germany, the Rhine and its tributaries were the location of many Romanesque abbeys, notably Mainz , Worms , Speyer and Bamberg . In Cologne , then the largest city north of

12672-720: The more northern countries, Roman building styles and techniques had never been adopted except for official buildings, while in Scandinavia they were unknown. Although the round arch continued in use, the engineering skills required to vault large spaces and build large domes were lost. There was a loss of stylistic continuity, particularly apparent in the decline of the formal vocabulary of the Classical Orders . In Rome several great Constantinian basilicas continued in use as an inspiration to later builders. Some traditions of Roman architecture also survived in Byzantine architecture with

12804-487: The most noticeable example being the pointed arch and flying buttress. The most notable example is the capitals, which are forerunners of the Gothic style and deviated from the Classical standards of ancient Greece and Rome with serpentine lines and naturalistic forms. Architecture "became a leading form of artistic expression during the late Middle Ages". Gothic architecture began in the earlier 12th century in northwest France and England and spread throughout Latin Europe in

12936-617: The most rare, with only a handful of survivors in the United Kingdom, several clusters in France, isolated buildings across Europe and by far the largest number, often unidentified and altered over the centuries, in Italy. Many castles exist, the foundations of which date from the Romanesque period. Most have been substantially altered, and many are in ruins. By far the greatest number of surviving Romanesque buildings are churches. These range from tiny chapels to large cathedrals . Although many have been extended and altered in different styles,

13068-444: The mouldings of the arch. Piers that occur at the intersection of two large arches, such as those under the crossing of the nave and transept, are commonly cruciform in shape, each arch having its own supporting rectangular pier at right angles to the other. Columns are an important structural feature of Romanesque architecture. Colonnettes and attached shafts are also used structurally and for decoration. Monolithic columns cut from

13200-443: The name of the style was transferred onto the contemporary Romanesque art . Combining features of ancient Roman and Byzantine buildings and other local traditions, Romanesque architecture is known by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars , barrel vaults , large towers and decorative arcading . Each building has clearly defined forms, frequently of very regular, symmetrical plan. The overall appearance

13332-568: The nature of the vault dictated that the alternate piers bore a great deal more weight than the intermediate ones and are thus very much larger. The foliate Corinthian style provided the inspiration for many Romanesque capitals, and the accuracy with which they were carved depended very much on the availability of original models, those in Italian churches such as Pisa Cathedral or church of Sant'Alessandro in Lucca and southern France being much closer to

13464-413: The nave from the aisles, and in large secular interiors spaces, such as the great hall of a castle, supporting the timbers of a roof or upper floor. Arcades also occur in cloisters and atriums, enclosing an open space. Arcades can occur in storeys or stages. While the arcade of a cloister is typically of a single stage, the arcade that divides the nave and aisles in a church is typically of two stages, with

13596-447: The nave was divided into by regular bays, each covered by a quadripartite rib vaults. Other characteristics of the High Gothic were the development of rose windows of greater size, using bar-tracery, higher and longer flying buttresses, which could reach up to the highest windows, and walls of sculpture illustrating biblical stories filling the façade and the fronts of the transept. Reims Cathedral had two thousand three hundred statues on

13728-442: The new Gothic style. Sens Cathedral was influential in its strongly vertical appearance and in its three-part elevation, typical of subsequent Gothic buildings, with a clerestory at the top supported by a triforium , all carried on high arcades of pointed arches. In the following decades flying buttresses began to be used, allowing the construction of lighter, higher walls. French Gothic churches were heavily influenced both by

13860-412: The new Italian style, because of the military campaign of Charles VIII to Naples and Milan (1494), and especially the campaigns of Louis XII and Francis I (1500–1505) to restore French control over Milan and Genoa. They brought back Italian paintings, sculpture and building plans, and, more importantly, Italian craftsmen and artists. The Cardinal Georges d'Amboise , chief minister of Louis XII, built

13992-574: The new palace begun by Emperor Charles V in Granada, within the Alhambra (1485–1550), inspired by Bramante and Raphael, but it was never completed. The first major Renaissance work in Spain was El Escorial , the monastery-palace built by Philip II of Spain . Under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I , England was largely isolated from architectural developments on the continent. The first classical building in England

14124-490: The new style were Burghley House (1550s–1580s) and Longleat , built by associates of Somerset. With those buildings, a new age of architecture began in England. Gothic architecture, usually churches or university buildings, continued to be built. Ireland was an island of Gothic architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the construction of Derry Cathedral (completed 1633), Sligo Cathedral ( c.  1730 ), and Down Cathedral (1790–1818) are other examples. In

14256-425: The old Romanesque church with the rib vault in order to remove walls and to make more space for windows. He described the new ambulatory as "a circular ring of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty." To support the vaults he also introduced columns with capitals of carved vegetal designs, modelled upon

14388-501: The old mediaeval style, which they termed Gothic, as synonymous with every thing that was barbarous and rude, it may be sufficient to refer to the celebrated Treatise of Sir Henry Wotton , entitled The Elements of Architecture , ... printed in London so early as 1624. ... But it was a strange misapplication of the term to use it for the pointed style, in contradistinction to the circular, formerly called Saxon, now Norman, Romanesque, &c. These latter styles, like Lombardic , Italian, and

14520-519: The others, continued to use six-part rib vaults); and Beauvais Cathedral (1225–). In central Europe, the High Gothic style appeared in the Holy Roman Empire , first at Toul (1220–), whose Romanesque cathedral was rebuilt in the style of Reims Cathedral; then Trier 's Liebfrauenkirche parish church (1228–), and then throughout the Reich , beginning with the Elisabethkirche at Marburg (1235–) and

14652-614: The period of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy: There can be no doubt that the term 'Gothic' as applied to pointed styles of ecclesiastical architecture was used at first contemptuously, and in derision, by those who were ambitious to imitate and revive the Grecian orders of architecture, after the revival of classical literature. But, without citing many authorities, such as Christopher Wren , and others, who lent their aid in depreciating

14784-406: The period), but it did occur, chiefly where easily worked limestone was available. Because of the massive nature of Romanesque walls, buttresses are not a highly significant feature, as they are in Gothic architecture. Romanesque buttresses are generally of flat square profile and do not project a great deal beyond the wall. In the case of aisled churches, barrel vaults, or half-barrel vaults over

14916-468: The pointed arch in turn led to the development of the pointed rib vault and flying buttresses , combined with elaborate tracery and stained glass windows. At the Abbey of Saint-Denis , near Paris, the choir was reconstructed between 1140 and 1144, drawing together for the first time the developing Gothic architectural features. In doing so, a new architectural style emerged that emphasized verticality and

15048-489: The presence of rhythmic ornamental arches known as a Lombard band . Charlemagne was crowned by Pope Leo III in Old St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day of 800, with an aim to re-establishing the old Roman Empire . Charlemagne's political successors continued to rule much of Europe, with a gradual emergence of the separate political states that were eventually to become welded into nations, either by allegiance or defeat, into

15180-437: The second quarter of the 19th century, neo-Gothic began to become promoted by influential establishment figures as the preferred style for ecclesiastical, civic and institutional architecture. The appeal of this Gothic revival (which after 1837, in Britain, is sometimes termed Victorian Gothic ), gradually widened to encompass "low church" as well as "high church" clients. This period of more universal appeal, spanning 1855–1885,

15312-517: The simple arched window motif. One of the effects of the Crusades , which were intended to wrest the Holy Places of the Levant from Islamic control, was to excite a great deal of religious fervour, which in turn inspired great building programs. The Nobility of Europe, upon safe return, thanked God by the building of a new church or the enhancement of an old one. Likewise, those who did not return from

15444-752: The square courtyard of the Louvre Palace designed by Pierre Lescot . Nonetheless, new Gothic buildings, particularly churches, continued to be built. New Gothic churches built in Paris in this period included Saint-Merri (1520–1552) and Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois . The first signs of classicism in Paris churches did not appear until 1540, at Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais . The largest new church, Saint-Eustache (1532–1560), rivalled Notre-Dame in size, 105 m (344 ft) long, 44 m (144 ft) wide, and 35 m (115 ft) high. As construction of this church continued, elements of Renaissance decoration, including

15576-471: The story of the Virgin Mary but also, in a small corner of each window, illustrating the crafts of the guilds who donated those windows. The model of Chartres was followed by a series of new cathedrals of unprecedented height and size. These were Reims Cathedral (begun 1211), where coronations of the kings of France took place; Amiens Cathedral (1220–1226); Bourges Cathedral (1195–1230) (which, unlike

15708-504: The style preceding Gothic was not recognized as a whole, and was instead, just like Gothic at the time, treated as a multitude of styles: Giorgio Vasari and Christopher Wren were writing about "Tuscan", "Saxon", or "Norman" architectures. The word Romanesque ("in the manner of Romans" ) appeared in English by 1666, and was used to designate what are now called Romance languages . Definition of Romanesque architecture changed over time;

15840-576: The succeeding style of Gothic architecture was recognised as early as the 15th century, as demonstrated by some artworks of that period. Robert Campin clearly presented the division in his Marriage of the Virgin ; on the left side, representing the Old Testament , the building is in the Romanesque style, while that on the right, representing the New Testament , is Gothic. Until the 19th century, however,

15972-658: The system of classical orders of columns, were added to the design, making it a Gothic-Renaissance hybrid. In Germany, some Italian elements were introduced at the Fugger Chapel of St. Anne's Church, Augsburg , (1510–1512) combined with Gothic vaults; and others appeared in the Church of St. Michael in Munich, but in Germany Renaissance elements were used primarily for decoration. Some Renaissance elements also appeared in Spain, in

16104-412: The term "barbarous German style" in his Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style, and in the introduction to the Lives he attributes various architectural features to the Goths , whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome, and erecting new ones in this style. When Vasari wrote, Italy had experienced a century of building in

16236-457: The term became a "common currency", and is universally accepted at least for convenience. Buildings of every type were constructed in the Romanesque style, with evidence remaining of simple domestic buildings, elegant town houses, grand palaces, commercial premises, civic buildings, castles, city walls, bridges, village churches, abbey churches, abbey complexes and large cathedrals. Of these types of buildings, domestic and commercial buildings are

16368-399: The triforium gallery. The arches used in Romanesque architecture are nearly always semicircular, for openings such as doors and windows, for vaults and for arcades. Wide doorways are usually surmounted by a semi-circular arch, except where a door with a lintel is set into a large arched recess and surmounted by a semi-circular "lunette" with decorative carving. These doors sometimes have

16500-441: The walls connected by arches to the upper walls. The buttresses counterbalanced the outward thrust from the rib vaults. This allowed the builders to construct higher, thinner walls and larger windows. Following the destruction by fire of the choir of Canterbury Cathedral in 1174, a group of master builders was invited to propose plans for the reconstruction. The master-builder William of Sens , who had worked on Sens Cathedral, won

16632-407: Was also influenced by the necessity of many churches, such as Chartres Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral , to accommodate growing numbers of pilgrims. It adapted features from earlier styles. According to Charles Texier (French historian, architect, and archaeologist) and Josef Strzygowski (Polish-Austrian art historian), after lengthy research and study of cathedrals in the medieval city of Ani ,

16764-448: Was characterised by the multiplication of the ribs of the vaults, with new purely decorative ribs, called tiercons and liernes, and additional diagonal ribs. One common ornament of flamboyant in France is the arc-en-accolade , an arch over a window topped by a pinnacle, which was itself topped with fleuron , and flanked by other pinnacles. Examples of French flamboyant building include the west façade of Rouen Cathedral , and especially

16896-603: Was not owed to the Goths but to the Islamic Golden Age . He wrote: This we now call the Gothic manner of architecture (so the Italians called what was not after the Roman style) though the Goths were rather destroyers than builders; I think it should with more reason be called the Saracen style, for these people wanted neither arts nor learning: and after we in the west lost both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabic books, what they with great diligence had translated from

17028-451: Was swiftly rebuilt in the new style, with contributions from King Philip II of France , Pope Celestine III , local gentry, merchants, craftsmen, and Richard the Lionheart , king of England. The builders simplified the elevation used at Notre Dame, eliminated the tribune galleries, and used flying buttresses to support the upper walls. The walls were filled with stained glass, mainly depicting

17160-515: Was the Old Somerset House in London (1547–1552) (since demolished), built by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset , who was regent as Lord Protector for Edward VI until the young king came of age in 1547. Somerset's successor, John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland , sent the architectural scholar John Shute to Italy to study the style. Shute published the first book in English on classical architecture in 1570. The first English houses in

17292-430: Was to build them out of stone cylinders called drums, as in the crypt at Speyer Cathedral . Where really massive columns were called for, such as those at Durham Cathedral , they were constructed of ashlar masonry and the hollow core was filled with rubble. These huge untapered columns are sometimes ornamented with incised decorations. A common characteristic of Romanesque buildings, occurring both in churches and in

17424-412: Was widespread and proved difficult to defeat. Vasari was echoed in the 16th century by François Rabelais , who referred to Goths and Ostrogoths ( Gotz and Ostrogotz ). The polymath architect Christopher Wren disapproved of the name Gothic for pointed architecture. He compared it to Islamic architecture , which he called the ' Saracen style', pointing out that the pointed arch's sophistication

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